64th Congress 


2d Session 


*1 


SENATE 


Document 
No. 723 


CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN 
ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO 


ADDRESS 

DELIVERED BEFORE THE CONFERENCE OF THE 
NATIONAL POPULAR GOVERNMENT LEAGUE, 
HELD AT WASHINGTON, D. C„ ON 
JANUARY 5 AND 6, 1917 


By 


JUDGE A. Z. BLAIR 



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PRESENTED BY MR. OWEN 

FEBRUARY 24, 1917.—Referred to the Committee on Printing 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
1917 


/ 

















V 


SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 378. 

Reported by Mr. Chilton. 


In the Senate of the United States, 

February 26, 1917. 

Resolved, That the manuscript submitted by the Senator from 
Oklahoma (Mr. Owen) on February 24, 1917, entitled “What Corrupt 
Practices in Elections Did in Adams County, Ohio,” an address before 
the National Conference of the National Popular Government 
League, by Judge A. Z. Blair, be printed as a Senate document. 
Attest: 

James M. Baker, 

Secretary. 


D. Of D. 
MAR 8 1917 



2 



WHAT CORRUPT PRACTICES IN ELECTIONS DID 

TO ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 


Address before the National Conference of the National Popular Government 
League, Washington, D. C., January 5 and 6, 1917. 


By Judge A. Z. Blair. 


Mr. Chairman, Ladies, and Gentlemen: 

It is my part in this conference to tell you something of the history 
of Adams County, Ohio, where, in 1910, out of a total of 6,505 
electors, 1,691 were disfranchised for selling their votes, or 26 out of 
every 100 voters in that county. Notwithstanding this fact, I am I 
here to-night to say to you that I am not ashamed of the fact that 
the best years of my life have been spent in that county. This cor¬ 
ruption of the ballot was not the result of either ignorance or lack 
of patriotism among the citizenship, for there is no more intelligent, 
liberty-loving, patriotic body of citizens in this fair land of ours than 
is the citizenship of Adams County, Ohio. This condition existed 
in spite of the intelligence and patriotism of the citizens, and was the 
result and fruits of corrupt politics. 

In order that you may comprehend the blighting influence of cor¬ 
rupt politics, it will be necessary to tell you something of the settle¬ 
ment and history of this county. It was a part of the great North¬ 
west Territory from which was carved the great States of Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan. This territory in its 
early days was ruled by Gov. St. Clair, who was a politician. Like 
the politicians of the present time, he sought first to benefit himself, 
second his party, and last the dear people. Gov. St. Clair sought to 
impress a faith in his party on the early settlers in this great terri¬ 
tory by giving Federal names to the settlements. 

For instance, the first settlement in Ohio was by the Federalists 
from the New England States, at Marietta, to which he gave the 
name, Washington County, after the great Federal leader George 
Washington, Father of his Country. 

The second settlement also was made by Federalists from New Eng¬ 
land, at Cincinnati; to this settlement he gave the name of Hamilton 
County in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the great Federal leader 
from Slew York. 

The third settlement was made at Manchester by anti-Federalists 
from Virginia, led by Nathaniel Massie, a schoolmate of Thomas 
Jefferson; to this settlement Gov. St. Clair gave the name of Adams 
County in honor of President Adams, a strong Federal leader. It 





4 CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 

must not be forgotten that Jefferson and Adams were bitter political 
enemies. These old Virginians, who . had bared their breasts to 
British bullets in the Revolutionary War to give this county her 
independence, and who had braved the hardships and privations of 
a frontier life to establish homes for themselves and their loved ones 
in this western wild, inhabited by savage beasts and still more savage 
men, deeply resented being given the name of the political enemy of 
Thomas Jefferson, their political founder and teacher. They realized 
that if their political faith was to be established in this western 
empire, they must act promptly. 

They sent a delegation to Jefferson and Madison to impress upon 
them the necessity of settling the Ohio Valley with the friends of 
their political faith, with the result that so many Virginians emi¬ 
grated to Ohio, that in the election of delegates to establish its first 
constitution a majority of these delegates were followers of the faith 
of Jefferson and Madison. Thus it may be said that this early set¬ 
tlement of Adams County, Ohio, was the birthplace of democracy in 
the great Central West. 

Not only did St. Clair insult these Virginia settlers by giving them 
a name which they resented, but he sought to still further impress 
them with the force and power of the Federal Party by establishing 
a village 10 miles north of Manchester, called West Union, and mak¬ 
ing it the county seat. From this it will be noticed that Adams 
County was born and organized amid political conflict. 

The political activities of later years were intensified from the 
fact that the first great national highway, extending from the Na¬ 
tional Capital through this great western country, was Zane’s Trace, 
leading from Wheeling, W. Va., directly through the center of 
Adams County, Ohio, to what was then known as Limestone, Ky., 
now known, as Maysvifle. 

In those early pioneer days the great political leaders from the 
South and West went to and from the National Capital in attend¬ 
ing the session of Congress by stage coach, traveling through Adams 
County by Zane’s Trace. There was located along this trace certain 
taverns or inns at which these noted men would stop and spend the 
night when on their journey. One of these, Treber’s Tavern, still 
standing, was located down in Adams County, and was famous, 
made so from the fact that Mrs. Treber, the landlady, was a famous 
biscuit baker. The fame of her baking was known to the travelers 
using this route to the National Capital, and they all sought to make 
it a point to so arrange their starting that they would stay over 
night at Treber’s Tavern. 

The country folks knew of the times when these great men would 
bo at this hostelry, and they would gather in for miles around and 
have a great political rally. My father and other men used to tell 
us boys about these rallies; about the speeches of Tom Benton, 
Henry Clay, and other like worthies. Men and boys who had been 
born amidst poverty and privations, who had gone through the school 
of hard knocks, at these great political rallies would hear the story 
of the struggle of political leaders in early life and the efforts they 
had put forth to attain the places that they held in public life. 
These men and boys went home from these meetings instilled with 
an ambition that the young men of that country should attain some¬ 
thing in life. The boys saw these men, saw they looked just like 


CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTA', OHIO. 5 

other men, and learned from them the story of their lives; that their 
attainments had been accomplished by labor, and resolved that they, 
too, would do something and be something as mdti. The result was 
that education in Adams County was prized as high as, if not higher 
than, in any other place in the Nation. The schools were'crowded 
with young folks eagerly seeking an education, with an ambition to 
use all that was within them to be something in life, and as a result 
these schools have produced more educated men, according to popu¬ 
lation, than any other similar territory in the Nation. 

From the original confines of Adams County we trace five United 
States Senators and eight governors, and when the martyred Presi¬ 
dent, Abe Lincoln, bowed down with responsibility in conducting 
the Civil War, sought a leader for the Federal Army who might 
successfully cope with that wonderful general of the South, Robert E. 
Lee, where did he go ? Down among the hills of the original Adams 
County and picked up “ Unconditional Surrender Grant,” who lead 
the northern armies to victory. 

If we were to assemble the journalists of the present day and ask 
them who it was that gave the impetus to modern journalism, they 
would reply with one accord John A. Cockerel, who made the St. 
Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World famous, and whose eyes 
first beheld the light of day down in Adams County, Ohio. Ah, 
they would not stop here, they would point to fhat other magnificient 
model of journalism, Whitelaw Reid, whose parents lived just across 
the field from where John A. Cockerel was .bonu Time will not 
suffice to speak of the great men produced by this county. It has 
given to the Nation in teachers, preachers, lawyers, physicians, and 
educated men, more, according to the population, than other like 
territory in the Nation. 

The impress of the character of the men of this county is written 
indelibly in the basic laws, not only of the State of Ohio, but practi¬ 
cally of every Western State and of the Nation at large. 

While the population of this county, up to the tipne of the Civil 
Wa r, was largely Democratic, it was thoroughly patriotic. Lying, as 
did the county, on the border of Mason and Dixon's line between the 
conflicting political opinions of the North and South, it kept alive 
the fires of patriotism. When the guns of the South hurled their 
first shots against the walls of Fort Sumter in 1861 it was answered 
among the hills and valleys of old Adams County, Ohio, by the fife's 
shrill note and the drum’s rolled beat calling her sons to arms. No 
county, save one, gave to the Federal Army a greater number of 
volunteer soldiers, according to population, than did Adams County, 
Ohio. 

You ask why then, if this was the class of her citizenship, did they 
become so debauched and degraded ? The answer is corrupt politics. 

Let me tell you the story. The county, as we have seen, was 
bom amid political warfare. Politics had largely maintained 
supremacy in the public thought by reason of these great men stop¬ 
ping at the hotels and addressing the populace, and the location of 
the comity on Mason and Dixon’s line. The stirring days of the 
Civil War intensified these deep seated political convictions of the 
people of this county. When the Civil War was over the soldiers 
from Adams County, those of them who had not been left upon 
southern fields of battle, returned to their homes. But the great 


6 CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 

majority of them had been changed in their political faith, by the 
arduous duties of war; they were no longer Democrats. They 
found their old fathers at home of the old faith. Much bitterness 
was thus developed even in the homes. 

About this time the Legislature of Ohio passed an enactment author¬ 
izing the county seat of the county to be established at such a point 
as a majority of the voters might select. The citizens of Manchester 
went forth crying, “Here is your chance to give back to us what has 
been stolen from us.” The people of West Union, the then county 
seat, answered, “We were born with the county seat; you will not 
take our birthright from us, will you?” A bitter campaign ensued. 

It was discovered that at that time there was no statute of the 
State of Ohio making it any offense to either buy or sell votes; in fact, 
there was no such statute mi til about 1889. Each of these villages 
sought to influence enough voters its way by the use of money. It 
is reported that they paid for votes as high as $75 apiece. One able, 
influential citizen states that he was offered $200 to move from one 
of these places to the other and keep his mouth shut. At this election 
money flowed like water. When the election was over some of the 
staid, substantial citizens sought to prosecute those who had been 
engaged in the nefarious business, but upon consulting attorneys they 
found that there was no law applicable to the case. The politicians 
then woke up. These young men, who had bared their breast to 
southern bullets in the Civil War, believed and stated that they had 
some right to have a voice in the form of government under which 
they should live. They went to their wealthy brothers, procured 
them to become candidates, and sought and pursued the same methods 
used in the county-seat election. Their old fathers who had re¬ 
mained at home during the war felt that the acts of their sons was 
almost a sacrilege against the political principles established by their 
worthy forefathers. They procured their wealthy men to become can¬ 
didates and followed the same method as the opposition. Thus it 
became common to use money in elections in Adams County; there 
was no law to prevent it, and the intensity of political feeling over¬ 
came their devotion to principle and to country. 

As the years rolled on the custom grew until everybody and 
everything were saturated with corrupt, degrading political methods. 
There was nothing so high and sacred that this corrupt influence did 
not trail in the dust and destroy if a vote could be made thereby. It 
laid its unholy hands on the school, the church, the home; it came to 
the point where father purchased sons and sons purchased their 
fathers, and sometimes their grandfathers. It became so embold¬ 
ened, backed by the spirit of partisanship, that it stood over the 
ballot box and with bills in the hands of the purchaser, in the presence 
of the judges of election, paid the bribed voter as he deposited his 
ballot in the box. It placed the right of suffrage upon the block in 
the county seat in the presence of the prosecuting attorney and 
sheriff, the mayor and marshal of the village and the voters assembled, 
offering it for sale and sold it to the highest bidder. The school¬ 
teacher held his position because of his political pull. The sanctuary 
of the church frequently witnessed that the worshipers were practi¬ 
cally all of either one or the other political faith. The minister 
during a campaign was especially guarded in what he might say. 
The citizenship bought the necessities of life along the line of politics; 




CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 7 

4 

there was nothing in the business, professional, or social life of the 
people that was not corrupted by the influence. 

^ Tou may ask, then, how in the world this change came about? 
krom Whence came .the inspiration that brought about the county’s 
cleansing? Let me assure you that the credit does not belong to 
me. My story will he most unfair to the people of my county if my 
part in this tragedy is omitted. In my early political career I parti¬ 
cipated in these degrading practices. When a boy in school my 
teacher asked some of us hoys if we desired a certificate to teach. 
We replied, “Certainly, teacher; but how can we obtain it?” He 
replied that if a certain candidate was elected probate judge that fall 
that a certain person would be appointed school examiner and we 
would be given teacher’s certificates. We said, 1 ‘Teacher, we can 
not vote; what can we do to help?” He then gave us the nUnies of 
men in our township whose votes could be influenced by the use of 
money, told us bow their ballots should be marked, and furnished us 
the money with which to do the work. We followed instructions. 
While our fathers and mothers thought we were snugly tucked away, 
fast asleep in our little beds, we were running over the hills and 
hollows buying votes like little heathens. The politicians did not 
suspect us, but watched each other thinking that everything was 
all right, until the votes were counted. We ran our man 71 votes 
ahead of his ticket in our precinct. He was elected by 37 votes in the 
county. Our teacher’s friend was appointed school examiner and 
we all received teacher’s certificates. None of the credit for this 
moral awakening belongs to me. It belongs to another class of the 
citizenship; it belongs to that class of citizens from whom has sprung 
the inspiration of every great moral uplift since this old world began. 
It sprung from the God-fearing noble-hearted women of tbe county. 

The women of the county, realizing the destructive influence of 
this practice on her father, brother,-husband, son, and sweetheart, 
fought it with all the power they possessed. The effort of the 
womanhood of the county to stamp out this nefarious practice finally 
began to have effect. Some of us men began to realize the horrible 
conditions, resulting from this traffic. We sought to break down the 
traffic by persuasion, by calling attention to its destructive influence 
in public addresses, at soldiers’ reunions, Sunday-school celebrations, 
and other places where the citizenship were assembled. The men 
that were awakened to a realization of the conditions were increased 
to such numbers and were so persistent in their efforts that the 
politicians sought their counsel and support. By their efforts an 
agreement was arranged between the candidates of the Democratic 
and Republican Parties whereby they agreed not to furnish or per¬ 
mit the expenditure of money for the bribing of electors, and placed 
on deposit in one of the hanks the sum of $10,000 with which to 
prosecute any person who violated the election laws. This resulted 
in a clean election that fall. But this nefarious practice had become 
too deeply rooted in the political fiber of the county to he easily 
eradicated. A certain portion of the purchasable votes, together 
with some of the politicians who had been in the habit of handling 
the funds, saw the opportunity of getting their fingers on this money 
thus taken away from them. ‘Their wail was long and loud, and they 
threatened political extinction of every candidate who had advocated 


8 CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 


this agreement. We then had the wonderful spectacle of the candi¬ 
dates of each of these parties riding over the county telling these 
voters that it was a nasty, dirty, mean, low trick of the other fellow, 
and that if the good Lord forgave them they wotild never be caught 
in such an agreement again. Politician and vote sellers who were 
opposed to the agreement did not know who was responsible therefor ; 
some of them scratched one candidate and some another, with the 
result that the scratching was about even and nobody was really 
hurt by this effort to break down the agreement. 

The next campaign a similar agreement was entered into by the 
candidates. Politicians and vote sellers got wise; they called a mass 
meeting of the vote sellers in one township, at w r hich there was more 
than 100 assembled. One old, wise guy said to the boys in the meet¬ 
ing, “Boys, we must stand together; if we will all scratch the party 
whose name appears first on the agreement they will never be able 
to get anybody to sign first again.” They adopted this policy with 
the result that the party's candidates, whose names first appeared 
on the agreement, were wiped off the political map at that election; 
thereafter you could get no one to sign the agreement first. We had 
the Alphonso-Gaston act. The Democrats would say to the Repub¬ 
licans, “I beg of you first, my dear Alphonso;” the Republicans 
replied, “I pray that you proceed first, my dear Gaston.” No one 
would sign first, and the traffic became as bad if not worse than 
before. 

About this time Judge Henry Collings, judge of the common pleas 
court of the county, one of the ablest and best men that ever graced 
the bench in the State of Ohio, died. It fell to my lot to succeed 
him, by appointment from the governor of the State, in the month 
of April. This appointment was to last until a successor to Judge 
Collings should be elected and qualified. The Republican Party, of 
which I was a member, nominated me for election as his successor. 

The Democratic politicians, a short time prior to the election, saw 
their chance to play politics. We may add that the Republican 
politicians w r ould have done the same thing had the opportunity been 
presented to them. They came to me and stated that I should show 
by my acts vdiat I had been preaching from the public platform by 
my words, and they presented to me an agreement similar to the agree¬ 
ments formerly had, and demanded that my signature be attached 
thereto to start the agreement. I signed it. ‘ The other candidates 
of both parties followed with their signatures. The blame for this 
agreement was immediately placed upon me. The politicians and 
vote sellers in every nook and corner of the county took up the cry 
against me, with the result that my defeat seemed certain. 

The good womanhood of the county told me that the Lord always 
provided and took care of those who did right. My answer was, 
“That if He took care of me during that campaign He would have 
to go some.” But I am firmly convinced that this saying is true. 

The Republicans in that campaign had gone to the great State of 
New York and selected as their standard bearer for the office of 
President of this mighty Nation of ours that wonderful exponent of 
the rights of people, Theodore Roosevelt. He swept this Nation and 
the subdivision of my judicial district in which I was a candidate, 
taking me into office on his political coat tail. My admiration for 
“Teddy” has been unbounded ever since. 







CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 9 

The people had been assured by me that if I was elected I would 
do all I could to break up this nefarious practice. My election had 
been clean. The unexpired term for which I had been elected 
required that my successor should be elected in two years. My 
duties during a great part of this time required me to be in an adjoin¬ 
ing county; however, I was renominated as my own successor by my 
party. 

My official duties kept me out of Adams County most of the time 
during this second campaign. Returning home about a week before 
the election, a committee of Democratic politicians met me at the 
railroad station and asked that an agreement, similar to the one 
entered into in my first campaign, be signed by me. They took occa¬ 
sion to remind irfe that my judicial position demanded my signing this 
agreement. I signed it. Upon reaching my home at the county seat 
some 14 miles from this station, my wife informed me that the execu¬ 
tive committee of my party desired my presence at the Republican 
headquarters at once. Upon reaching these headquarters the infor¬ 
mation was given me that my action in signing this agreement was a 
violation of the rules of political etiquette in that county, and that 
unless my name was withdrawn from this agreement and my activities 
against the spending of money as it was spent in that county was 
stopped that my defeat was inevitable. In fact, some of the com¬ 
mittee stated that they would use their personal efforts to bring about 
this result. Our answer to this was that “We would hold our office 
as judge for a sufficient length of time after the election to see that 
those who violated the election laws were brought to the bar of 
justice and properly punished, and we proposed to do so if money 
was illegally used at that election without regard to the conse¬ 
quences,” and left the committee. 

Again the corrupt politicians and the vote sellers assailed the posi¬ 
tion that we had assumed and began a vigorous campaign to make 
certain of defeating me, and on the last day before the election in 
which a vacancy on the ticket could be filled every candidate on the 
Republican ticket of Adams County resigned from the ticket because 
of the fact of the elimination of money from the election. The resig¬ 
nations were handed in at about 3.30 that afternoon, leaving the time 
from that until midnight to obtain new candidates and have them 
properly certified and placed upon the ticket. This was done. 
Again it looked as though we were certainly defeated, and again was 
it clearly vindicated that those who assume the right attitude in 
matters of great public concern need not fear the consequences. To 
the surprise of everyone a< very large number of old-line, moss- 
backed Democrats, who had not scratched their tickets for so long 
that they had almost forgotten how, came over and gave us their 
support, not only by their votes but by their influence and work. 
The result was that we were not only reelected by receiving a majority 
of votes in the subdivision of the judicial district from which we were 
elected, but received more votes than any candidate in it save one. 

About this time the arrangement for the judges of this district 
necessitated the change of our home from West Union, in Adams 
County, to the city of Portsmouth, in Scioto County, and we were 
required to hold the courts of Scioto County and a large part of the 
terms of Lawrence County, adjoining, while another judge of the 
subdivision held practically all of the court of Adams County. There 


10 CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 

being no resident judge in this county, and the associate judge not 
knowing the counties as well as we, the practice broke forth again 
in all of its fury. In the fall of 1910 it fell to our lot to hold the 
fall term of court in the county. At this time court was opened, a 
grand jury was charged and began its labors. In the afternoon of 
the first day the prosecuting attorney came to the court and gave 
us the information that he was utterly powerless to obtain indict¬ 
ments against any person living in the county entitled to cast a 
vote at the election, stating that the Republicans would not indict 
a Republican and the Democrats would not indict a Democrat. 
Under these conditions the court was adjourned until after the 
election. The grand jury was finally discharged and we returned 
to our homes in the city of Portsmouth. The nest morning after 
the election the newspapers carried the story of the large expenditure 
of money for the debauching of the electorate of Adams County 
on the day of the election. Secret Service men were placed in two 
townships to obtain information. It had been so common to buy 
and sell votes in this county that the vote buyers and vote sellers 
after an election would meet at the little country stores and other 
places and discuss the amount of money paid and the political-tricks 
enacted in order to secure votes. It was not infrequent that con¬ 
versation something like the following would take place between a 
number of these vote sellers congregated at some public place: One 
would say, “Wall, Bill, how much did you get for your vote?” 
“Why, Frank, I got $5 for my vote and a drink of liquor.” Another 
one would speak up and say, “Gee whiz, boys, you ought to see me; 
I got $12.50 from Tom.” The other two would pipe out in chorus, 
“tom pay you $12.50? He told us he woukTt pay over $5 to 
anybody.” Another one would say, “Well, Tom paid me $5, and 
then I sold to the other side for $10.” 

From these conversations and talking with these people these 
Secret Service men had no trouble in obtaining the necessary data 
for the investigation. 

On the 13th day of December following, court reassembled. It 
had become public that an investigation into the bribery at this 
election was to be had. Letters from all classes of politicians, high 
and low, rich and poor, came to the court, some of them containing 
threats, some of them containing pleas, some containing appeals; 
some pointed out that the investigation must necessarily be a fail¬ 
ure, and the result would be the lining up of these vote sellers for 
the Democratic Party, making the county, the judicial, senatorial, 
and congressional district Democratic. 

One of the dangers to a successful investigation was the strong 
political prejudice existing in the minds of the better class of the 
citizenship of both political parties. The prosecuting attorney of the 
county was a Republican, and while the court did not desire that he 
should be sick, yet if he had to be sick that was the best time so far 
as this investigation was concerned. This authorized the court to 
appoint a prosecuting attorney. The court appointed a little, short, 
Scotch-Irish attorney, Will. P. Stephenson, who was at the time 
chairman of the Democratic executive committee of the county, but 
who had caught the inspiration for a better citizenship and had 
refused to become a participant in the debauching of the electorate 
that year. 



CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 11 

Under the laws of the State of Ohio the court can order the sheriff 
or the court baliff to select a grand jury of 15 persons from the by¬ 
standers. The sheriff was called in by the court and the prosecuting 
attorney and informed that 15 men, whose honesty and integrity 
could not be questioned, would be required to compose a grand jury, 
to be called the next day. He, together with the prosecutor and court, 
selected the names of 15 such persons, being 7 Republicans, 7 Demo¬ 
crats, and 1 Prohibitionist. These men were notified to be present in 
the courtroom at a certain hour. When this hour arrived the court 
was opened and the sheriff was directed to select the jury from the 
bystanders. He called the 15 names selected by himself, the prose¬ 
cuting attorney, and the court. Hon. Lucian J. Fenton, ex-Con- 
gressman from the district, a Republican, was sworn in as foreman of 
the grand jury. 

There was a man by the name of Jesse Grooms, living at West 
Union, the county seat, who had received money for his vote, and 
seemed to take pride in telling the public that he had sold his vote, and 
he did not care who knew it. The prosecuting attorney had some of 
the people that he had told subpoenaed before the grand jury and an 
indictment was returned against him. The Secret Service men gave 
their testimony, and other citizens that had some information, from 
which the grand jury returned 31 indictments. 

When it was learned that an investigation was to be made by the 
grand jury into the use of money at that election, the politicians and 
vote sellers of the county got busy. It was agreed among them that 
they would forget when called upon as to the buying and selling of 
votes. The bank cashiers, members of the respective party commit¬ 
tees, and some of the vote buyers were called before the grand jury. 
From the cashiers of the banks it was learned something of the amount 
of money that went into the hands of the respective committees, from 
these committees was obtained the information of the amount of 
money put into the campaign by the respective parties, and the details 
of the distribution of this money was given to the grand jury ; but the 
vote buyers, when called before the grand jury, seemed to have lost their 
recollection. They said when replying about the purchase of votes 
that they were very busy on the day of the election ; that they had no 
special reason to know just what took place; that they did not 
expect to be called upon to give the information, and consequently 
they could not remember just the names of the persons to whom they 
paid the money that had been given them. 

These 31 indictments were returned on Friday and the grand jury 
was discharged until the next Monday morning. The politicians got 
very busy in the meantime. All kinds of letters and threats were 
sent to the court and prosecuting attorney. The court was informed 
that citizens were assembling in some of the townships and that a 
mob or riot would probably be the result. The next move, after the 
adjournment of the grand jury, was to send out the sheriff and tell 
Mr. Grooms that the court desired to see him. He came into court 
and said to the judge that he understood that he was wanted. He 
was informed that it was reported on the streets that he claimed to 
have received money for his vote. He said the information was 
correct. The indictment was read to him and he said he was guilty. 
The court then said to him that the court, prosecuting attorney, and 
the grand jury were investigating the use of money in that election; 


12 CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 

that they did not desire to be severe, but that they were going to 
use their best efforts to break up the practice in the county; that 
they knew there was a belief in the minds of the people of the county 
that it would be impossible to enforce this law and procure convic¬ 
tions for its violation; that if, the persons who were guilty would do 
as he had done, come into court and confess their guilt, leniency 
would be shown hi the fixing of the penalty to be imposed, but if 
violators of the election laws undertook to escape conviction, and 
sought to avoid punishment by entering into a combination with 
other violators and agreeing to withhold the facts from the court 
and jury, that they might expect, upon conviction, severe punish¬ 
ment to be meted to them. The court sentenced the defendant, 
Grooms, to pay a fine of $25 and costs, disfranchised him for a period 
of five years, and committed him to the workhouse at Cincinnati, 
Ohio, for the period of six months, and until such fine and costs were 
fully paid, and then suspended the workhouse sentence and the fine 
and costs imposed, except that he was required to pay $10 thereon; 
this suspension to be in effect during his good behavior, and then 
excused him on his own recognizance, giving him an opportunity to 
raise the $10. 

The prosecuting attorney and court selected six names from the 31 
persons that had been indicted by the grand jury, three from the 
Republican side and three from the Democratic side, persons whose 
presence from the community could best be spared—unmarried 
men who were not factors in the progress of the community. Writs 
were placed in the hands of the sheriff for the arrest of these persons. 
On the Saturday morning following when court opened these six 
persons were present in court. The court said to one of them with 
whom the court was well acquainted, “Why, Bill, what are you 
doing here?” This fellow, a sort of a happy-go-lucky, indolent, 
easy sort of a chap, with a grin on his face, replied to the court, “The 
sheriff brought me in and says I am charged with selling my vote.” 
Thereupon the court said to him, “Now, Bill, you thought you 
would put one over on the court and grand jury, didn’t you ?” The 
court had learned in the meantime that the vote buyers, who had 
been before the grand jury, had gone to their homes and told the 
persons whose votes they had purchased that they had had a lapse 
of memory when testifying before the grand jury, and that they 
could not remember the names of any persons to whom they had 
paid money for their votes. These vote sellers felt that they had 
gone scot free. The court said to Bill, “You thought you had put 
one over on us, didn’t you? The fellow that bought your vote 
told you last night, didn’t he, that he didn’t tell on you; he said to 
you that when he was before the grand jury he couldn’t remember 
your name, didn’t he, Bill?” And without waiting for an answer 
to the inquiry the court continued: “Bill, you didn’t know, did 
you, that the court and prosecuting attorney and grand jury know 
that you got $12.50 for your vote? That it was paid to you over at 
Smith’s lumber yard about 12 o’clock the night before the election 
and that you received $1 extra to pay to a Grooms boy? You 
didn’t know, did you Bill, that the court and prosecuting attorney 
and grand jury had knowledge of these facts?” Bill looked up 
sheepishly and said, “No, sir, I didn’t, judge; I didn’t know you 
know’d that.” The court replied: “Well, we know all about it, 


CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 13 

Bill,” and Bill’s answer was, ‘‘I guess you do.” The indictment 
was read to Bill and he was asked what his plea was, and he said, “I 
am guilty.” 

The other five thereupon entered their pleas of guilty. Then the 
court said to them: ‘‘Boys, I am sorry for you; I am sorry that 
anyone has to be punished; but it seems that you are the goats in 
this case. There is a belief in the minds of many people in this 
county that the law against the bribing of the electorate can be 
violated with impunity; that uhder the conditions existing here in 
this county conviction of violators of this statute can not be had. 
This court and grand jury owes it to the people of this county and to 
the State to disprove this idea and to establish the fact that it is 
possible to convict and punish violators of this statute, the same as it 
is of any penal statute of the State. The court and grand jury had 
hoped that the violators of this law at the recent election would not 
undertake to thwart justice, but the information has come to the 
court that secret meetings have been held among this class of the 
citizens; plans have been laid whereby perjury is to be added to the 
offense of open and willful bribery at the election and carried on pub¬ 
licly, openly, flagrantly, without let or hindrance. It is the intention 
of those engaged in this prosecution to break down this nefarious 
business, and the court will, if necessary, inflict the severest penalty 
provided by law for the punishment of the offenders. It is necessary 
that the court inflict such punishment on you boys as will warn 
other violators of the danger of withholding from the court and grand 
jury the facts within their knowledge. Had you come into court and 
entered your plea of guilty and been fair with the court and the officials, 
the court would have exercised leniency toward you. You have not 
seen fit to do this, but rather have taken the chance of entering into 
this unlawful combination and conspiracy to thwart justice. You 
and each of you will therefore be adjudged to pay a fine of $200 and 
the costs of prosecution, and are disfranchised for the period of five 
years, and are committed to the workhouse in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 
the period of nine months and until your fine and costs are fully 
paid.” And the court added, “This sentence is only the beginning 
of what will happen to other persons who are guilty, alike with you, if 
they fail to come into court of their own volition and give the court 
the facts as they know them. Mr. Sheriff, take the prisoners to jail; 
see that they begin the serving of their sentences at once.” The court 
then adjourned until the Monday morning following. 

Nothing was talked about in the county except the action of the 
court in this matter. The telephones from the county seat told the 
story in every precinct, township, and village, and there were but 
few citizens who did not know the result that Saturday afternoon. 
The acts of the court did not lose anything in being repeated. It 
was pointed out that young Grooms, who had gone into court volun¬ 
tarily, as the public thought, had gotten off very easy; that he was 
permitted to go and would be required to pay only $10 and be dis¬ 
franchised, while the other boys, who had been brought in by the 
sheriff, were not only disfranchised but had a fine of $200 and nine 
months in the workhouse standing over them. 

The citizenship began to wake up to the fact that this law could 
be enforced. The vote buyers and the vote sellers no longer trusted 
each other, each fellow began to look out for himself. Some threats 


14 CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 

were made against the court. Some went to the extent of calling 
up by long-distance phone the friends of the court in his home town 
and telling them of the danger to which the court, prosecuting attor¬ 
ney, and members of the grand jury were laying themselves liable. 

The judge, in returning to the county seat to hold court the next 
Monday morning, took an early train which arrived at Adams County 
at the little station of Peebles, 14 miles from the county seat, about 
5 o’clock in the morning. At this season of the year it was yet dark 
when the train arrived. As the court was stepping down from the 
train, he noticed a crowd of men standing out in the darkness and 
one of them said “Hello, Judge.” The court thought, well here is 
the mob sure enough, and in order to ascertain why these men were 
there he replied, “Well, boys, what are you doing here this cold, 
snowy morning?”—for it was a cold morning and snow covered the 
ground. They replied, “Judge, we have come to plead guilty.” 
The court alighted from the train and told the boys that he could not 
accept their pleas there, but they must go to the hotel where they 
could get some fire and light. On arriving at the hotel these men 
were told that the court did not know whether they had been in¬ 
dicted or not, but if they were willing to enter their pleas and let the 
records show that the pleas were entered after the indictment was 
returned that the court would accept them, and pass sentence. 
This they agreed to do. They were each given the same sentence 
as had been given to Grooms, the first man to appear, and permitted 
to go home. 

After passing sentence on these 31 individuals and eating breakfast 
the court started in a rig for the county seat, 14 miles away. He 
found the road full of people in all kinds of vehicles, some walking, 
some in buggies, some in road wagons, some horseback—all headed 
toward the county seat. On reaching West Union, the county seat, 
he found the town full of vehicles and people; in fact, the sheriff 
had to make the crowd stand back until the court got out of his con¬ 
veyance. 

The courthouse having been burned the spring before, court was 
being held upstairs in the sheriff s residence. It was necessary for 
the sheriff to put a deputy at the foot of the staiis to keep those who 
sought to enter their pleas of guilty from breaking the stairs down, 
and a deputy had to be stationed at the door of the room where 
court was being held to keep them from mashing the door in—all 
anxious to enter their pleas of guilty and tell all they knew about 
the use of money in the election. The court passed sentence that 
day on 241, and a great many of those who came were compelled 
to stay over night because of the lack of time for the court to receive 
their pleas and pronounce their sentence. These facts went out over 
the county by way of telephone. The vote buyers began to wake up. 
The telephone of the prosecuting attorney and the court began to 
ring, and these parties that had been in ancl didn’t remember to whom 
they had paid the funds that they had in their hands on election day 
were now begging to come in and tell the grand jury. They said that 
when they went home and reflected the matter over, they had been 
able to recall the names of a large number of voters to whom they 
had given money. It was easy after this to obtain all the facts; 
the vote sellers and the vote buyers were both eager to give up all 
the information they had in reference to this practice. One man, 


CORRUPT ELECTION PRACTICES IN ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO. 15 

of lus own volition, living some 14 miles from the county seat, made 
eight different trips, so that he would be sure to tell of all of the per¬ 
sons to whom he had paid money at the election. 

When the probe was over sentence had been passed upon 1,961, 
or 26 out of every 100 voters there were in the county. One of the 
interesting facts in connection with this investigation is the fact 
that the oldest dry precinct in the county had the smallest per cent 
of vote sellers, there being only 3 per cent of the electors of that 
precinct who had sold their votes at the election, while the precinct 
that had been the last to give up its saloons had the greatest per 
cent of disfranchised persons, there being 51 per cent of the total 
voters in this precinct who entered their pleas of guilty of having 
sold their votes. 

When the probe was over, it had been clearly demonstrated that 
the law could be enforced. The county has since had clean elections. 
Not only this county but the counties of southern Ohio, in which 
the practice had gained foothold, eliminated the practice. The 
public generally, with but a single exception, welcomed the banish¬ 
ment of this nefarious business. This exception was the liquor 
interest. It sought to nullify the effect of this investigation by 
restoring these disfranchised persons to citizenship through an act 
of the legislature of the State. James E. Cox was- governor of the 
State. The court called upon the governor and frankly told him the 
facts. The liquor interests were powerful enough and had influence 
enough in that legislature to enact the bill that they had proposed, but 
Gov. Cox, although of different political faith from the court, had the 
backbone, manhood, and respect for his office and the good of the com¬ 
munity to veto the measure, thus setting a noble example of good 
citizenship by the highest official of the great State of Ohio. 

We earnestly hope that there may be a great many more officials 
who, like Gov. Cox, shall put patriotism above partisan advantages. 

This story will be incomplete without the mentioning of the aid 
and encouragement given by the womanhood of the county and of 
the State to the officials who made this investigation. They gave us 
encouragement b^Jetters, telegrams, and telephone messages, and 
by their personal statements. To the efforts and influence of woman¬ 
hood belongs the credit for whatever advancement has been made in 
the purification of the politics of that county. An inspiration, we 
may say, that has not been confined within the bounds of Adams 
County, Ohio, but whose beneficial influence has gone farther, and 
still farther, until to-day it stands at the doors of the halls of Congress 
and seeks to be embodied into statutory enactment that shall wipe 
from the election of this fair land of ours the many corrupt practices 
that have been tolerated in the past. 

We believe that the Members of this Congress have heard the call 
and will respond to this noble cause brought about by the untiring 
efforts of the noble womanhood of Adams County, Ohio. 


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